Bloody Knives Will Cut Your Heart Out For This

There seems to be two camps in our post-gazing world.  One camp takes the ethereality route create airy, gauzy songs that linger like a spring breeze.  The other camp assaults you with sheets of distortion, noise, and more effects that humanly possible.  This is the camp that unsurprisingly named Bloody Knives belong in.  Their latest album, the family friendly, I Will Cut Your Heart Out For This is a loud, brash, and violent musical attack.

Creating solid sheets of noise, Bloody Knives crank their guitars to 11 put their effects pedals on overdrive and just go.  The songs that make up I Will Cut Your Heart Out For This are aural assaults of cascading waves of distortion that could scare the living daylights out of someone.  This record contains no choruses or things to latch on to.  Rather, it overpowers you with so much guitar wrangling it's hard to discern where riffs begin and end.  This is a record of sturm und drang and it's almost painful to listen to on headphones because of how chaotic and noisy it really is.  I love the idea of this band and their approach is nuts I just wish they had a bit more to cling to.  Really, what they should have done is gotten a black metal vocalist and just gone off the deep end...that would have been unreal.

As it stands though, Bloody Knives are about the most brutal and vicious indie band to walk the planet.  Their songs are visceral, raw and strike at the core of shoegazing.  Like Marmite,  I Will Cut Your Heart Out For This is a love it or hate it kind of thing and where you fall will depend on what you hear when you listen to it.  But know this, a noisier and more riotous gazing record will be hard to find!

DJ Sun Heads To China Bearing Beats With Qing Xi

Ok…I have to admit, I was a bit thrown by this record.  Judging by what I saw on the cover I figured I was about to embark on a world music journey centered in China and can you blame me…I mean look at the record.  What QingXi actually is, however, is a chilled out electronic album from DJ Sun constructed as a soundtrack to his personal journey around China; at least I got the China part correct.

Anyway, QingXi is an atmospheric excursion through sound and an imaginative travelogue authored by DJ Sun.  Originally commissioned as an audio visual experience the record is a thoughtful expedition where following along with the liner notes is important and informative.  Sun, through his writing, sets the tone and the stage for each of the pieces that make up QingXi and it provides some context of where Sun’s imagination and creativity were rooted while he was producing this record. 

Featuring a bevy of minimal beats, synth washes and other haunting and natural sounds one can’t help but wonder how these musical ideas permeated Sun’s journey throughout China.  With tracks about bee keepers, shop keepers, the island of Macau and even sailing in a non-Christopher Cross sort of way Sun keeps your imagination flowing as his story unfolds.  His blending of minimal techno and chill out while honoring tradition and culture makes for an awesome listen.  It might not be a dance floor monster but QingXi is an amazing headphone experience that will keep you mind incredibly busy. 

While this isn’t what I was expecting, I got something much better.  DJ Sun’s QingXi is an awesome listen and an interesting idea that works.  One would love to see DJ Sun take the idea of aural travelogue’s and run with it.  Imagine an Australian journey, an Indian excursion, an Arctic experience…the possibilities are endless in a Rick Steeves kind of way!

Joe Driscoll & Sekou Kouyate Play Monistic Theory

Joe Driscoll & Sekou Kouyate have come together for a second round of kora infused fusion on their album Monistic Theory.   Much like their debut, this effort is a gorgeous blend of North American and African sounds that come together in a jazzy blend of funk, folk, and virtuosity.   With a variety of influences and musical sounds blending and working together there is nothing that this duo is afraid to try.  They rap, they sing in Guinean, they pack a thousand guitar riffs into a song and let the kora weave magic spells; it’s all here and Joe & Sekou seamlessly intertwine cultures and chemistry to a dynamic and organic sound that is uniquely their own. 

From songs that sound like they’re straight from Pat Metheny’s studio to more traditional ballads featuring the kora, Joe and Sekou take the listener on a journey of exploration and discovery.  It’s a wonderful ride that’s as gorgeous as an African sunset and as intriguing as New York City.  These guys can seriously play their hearts out and it feels as though they’ve dumped every ounce of their musical souls into these songs.  There’s a lot of love, emotion, creativity and talent throughout these songs.  It’s hard to believe after listening to Monistic Theory that this collaboration might not have ever happened.  Thankfully, both Joe and Sekou stuck things out and let things flow and if all works out the journey that they’ve carried on with Monistic Theory will continue for years to come.

Cha Wa Bring The Funk & Feathers

Talk about perfect timing…the arrival of Cha Wa’s album Funk N’ Feathers just happens to coincide with the Mardi Gras season.  This record sounds so New Orleans it sounds as if it were recorded as Cha Wa were marching through the French Quarter.  To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a band that so seems festival born than Cha Wa.  These guys are ridiculously energetic and pumped to bring the sights, sounds, and even smells of Mardi Gras to you by any means necessary.

Funk N’ Feathers has this incredible live feel to it that manages to catch some of the energy that pulsates through New Orleans during this time of the year.  Honestly, it’s almost more energy than the digital music format can handle.  Nonetheless, the party atmosphere that Cha Wa creates throughout this record is upbeat and fun and propelled by songs that are percussive, rhythmic and as the title indicates…funky.  In fact, these guys are so funky that one suspects they could create grooves out nothing but Café Du Monde beignet mix. 

If you weren’t able to make it to Mardi Gras this year in New Orleans and are too lazy to partake in the one at Universal in Orlando, pop Funk N’ Feathers on, cover yourself in beads make a float out of your bed and imagine yourself cruising through the French Quarter.  Seriously.  Funk N’ Feathers is an fantastically fun record that does its best (and does it well) at trying to encapsulate the funk and fun of New Orleans in less than an hour.   Cha Wa have knocked it out of the ball park with this record and short of seeing them in New Orleans Funk N’ Feathers suffices as one heck one an experience by itself.

Jeff Runnings Primitives & Smalls Is A Beauty

Jeff Running’s album Primitives and Smalls is an ethereal dream that washes over you like a fragrant wave of clean laundry on a spring day.  The album is an airy, wondrous exploration of guitar textures, ghostlike drum beats and whispered vocals.  It’s so angelic it doesn’t feel real.  In fact the songs seem so otherworldly I’m kind of convinced that the only way to listen to Primitives and Smalls is by unconscious.

Mr. Runnings has come up with a series of haunting tunes that have some Slowdivian qualities about them but are still uniquely his thanks to his fascinating voice.  While not quite deep or high pitched, Runnings’ voice sounds dazed, hazed, and half-awake as he whispers and sighs his way through the songs that make up Primitives and Smalls.  It’s this heavenly croon that really makes the record stand out.  While the songs on Primitives and Smalls are stunningly gorgeous it’s Runnings’ voice that lifts the record from being just another post-gazing experiment. 

I quite like this record.  It’s chilling, minimalistic tones and slightly drowsy vocals make the record easy to get lost in.  Primitives and Smalls isn’t necessarily catchy or filled with pop hits but rather, is beautiful and transcendental.  This is the soundtrack to the best night’s sleep ever…and after a lot of really crappy nights of sleep this is a dream come true!  Essential listening for anyone remotely interested in shoegazing, dream pop, or a good night’s sleep!

The Blessed Isles Are Straining Hard Against The Strength Of The Night

Somewhere between shoegazing and synthpop lies the land The Blessed Isles have staked out as their own.  This dynamic duo specialize in creating ethereal synthy post-gazing works of sheer beauty that are dreamy and otherworldly.  Their album Straining Hard Against the Strength Of the Night is a magnificent effort that’s the closest thing to floating in space I’ve ever heard.  If you can imagine Peter Hook and Elizabeth Frazier working together then you have some semblance of an idea of where The Blessed Isles are coming from.

Straining Hard Against the Strength Of the Night is a hypnotizing effort that is an alchemical reaction between the cross pollination of ethereal sub genres.  From the whispered vocals, the washy synths and distorted guitars The Blessed Isles have such a firm standing in the past that you might think that they were.  And yet, despite their obvious love of all things 80’s & 90’s, the band find a way to take their vintage influences and manipulate them into something wholly modern and unique to them.  Sure you can play spot the classic indie band but it’s more fun to just listen to how these guys written such great songs. Straining Hard Against the Strength Of the Night has so many great choruses and so many huge hooks that just about every song on this album could be an indie pop hit.

There’s really nothing to dislike about either The Blessed Isles or Straining Hard Against the Strength Of the Night.  This is a perfect pop record that’s emotional, catchy and simply gorgeous.  From solid production to brilliant songs Straining Hard Against the Strength Of the Night has it all and it’s easily one of my favorite records of 2016!

Los Hacheros' Bambulaye Is A Modern Vintage Gem

Sometimes good things come in small unmarked packages!  Such was the case when Los Hacheros’ album Bambulaye arrived in my mailbox.  This fantastic album of Latin music harks back to the golden age of the genre and reminded me of the days of my youth in Miami.  This Brooklyn based band are so in touch with the vintage style of the music they love that they recorded the whole thing analog for a grittier and more raw feel; they succeeded as Bambulaye feels and sounds like a record from another time.

With influences ranging from son montuno and guaracha to salsa Los Hacheros’ sound is as diverse as the city they call home.  The result is a record that sounds fresh, alive, and energetic despite looking to the past for inspiration.  Throw in the band’s ability to not only improvise musically but lyrically as well and you have a band that’s vibrant and truly creative.  This creativity and improvisational nature allows the songs of Bambulaye to become these organic, living and breathing works of energy that are fiery and loose.  It’s a magnificent work of art here and Los Hacheros do such a great job of creating an old world atmosphere that it’s hard not to love Bambulaye.

With amazing musicianship, a love of the past, fantastic spontaneity and songs that are almost impossible not to dance to Bambulaye is pure perfection.  Los Hacheros are an amazing unit who have captured the energy and passion of their forefathers and created something uniquely their own.  They might not actually be from the Golden Age of Latin Music but don’t tell them that!  Bambulaye is a constant reminder of how seductive Latin music is and as such it’s an essential record of the genre.  

Witching Waves And Their Crystal Cafe

Witching Waves’ Crystal Café is a restless record of noisy guitars, sugary sweet vocals and driving rhythms.  Sounding something like the Pixies/Breeders with a bit of riot grrl, Lush and Sonic Youth thrown in for good measure Britain's Witching Waves create a raucous distorted wall of edginess with just enough pop sensibility to make it all memorable.  Not overly produced or even overly played, Crystal Café churns through songs in a torrent of frenzied riffs, shouts, melodies and broken drum heads.  It’s all a bit rough and tarnished around the edges but that’s what makes Witching Waves so darn good and fun to jump around to. 

Crystal Café is probably the most American record I’ve heard a British band produce since Urusei Yatsura did things like this in the 90’s.  And while there are bits and bobs that sound British in their tendencies, most of the songs lend credence to the thought that Witching Waves were raised on 90’s indie rock from the States.  Irregardless of origin, the eleven songs that make up Crystal Café are all brilliant and there’s so little wrong with this indie rock gem it’s not even worth mentioning.   From the jumpiness of the guitars to the boy girl vocal trade-offs and even the subdued basslines prodding the songs along Witching Waves have stumbled on to some songwriting gold here and it all comes together to make for one heck of a thirty minute ride.  Raw, unrefined and fun Crystal Café is a modern indie rock classic and one of the best records of 2016 thus far.  

Versus Is Well Worth The Trip To Eureka California

As shambolic as the cover would seem to indicate Eureka California’s Versus is a crazy ride through the indie rock lexicon.  Sounding like a perfect smash up between Daydream Nation era Sonic Youth, Slanted and Enchanted Pavement, a bit of Superchunk and some surf guitar Versus is a noisy wrangled record of chaotic fun.  This is a sloppy and loud record that hits you over the head with massive melodies, geeky guitar work, and songs that are hard to forget.

Eureka California don’t necessarily write anything overly complicated but what they do write seems to be held together by some broken guitar strings, duct tape, and a bit of luck.  It’s all very messy but its simplistic nature is its greatest asset.  This is a homage to classic 90’s indie rock made with a heart the size of Texas and it’s so in love with that era it’s hard to believe this was released this year.  Versus is an awesome listen and catchier than the zika virus it’s songs recklessly careen through three minutes like a 90 year old granny backing up in a parking lot.  Rough, raw and prone to blowing speakers Versus is a shining example of how indie rawk should be played. 

Eureka California’s Versus could fall apart at any point while it’s being listened to.  Its disheveled songs, shaky walls of noisy guitars and muddled melodies somehow manage to hold together just long enough to work their way into your consciousness and never leave.  It is almost impossible to dislike sloppy stuff like this because its organic nature is so unpolished and raw that its intentions are laid bare. Eureka California are an awesome band and Versus is a trip well worth making.    

Silva's Jupiter Is A Work Of Cosmic Beauty

Silva’s Jupiter is a musical tribute to the largest planet in our solar system and is inspire by pop, bossa nova, electronica and even chanson.  Led by 27 year old Espirito Santo and his endless fascination by the planet the album is a bit unusual and geeky when you think about it.  Who’s inspired and endlessly curious about a planet nowadays that isn’t in NASA or ESA?  Not very many people but I think that’s what makes Jupiter feel so special it’s an honest and spacious (so to speak) record that reflects the size and strength of the planet.

With Jupiter Silva (Santo) challenged himself to step away from layering endless amounts of music on top of each other.  Instead he chose a more organic and minimal structure that despite its implications still is expansive and vast.  Jupiter is a sumptuous and sensual record that takes elements of hip hop and electronica and chills them to perfection.  The album is a slow moving gyration of steaminess.  The record isn’t blatantly sexy but the slow moving beats, near jazzy atmospheres and whispered vocals create an atmosphere that makes it that way.  From pulsating bass lines, tickled pianos and slow steady beats this record slowly builds up a cold sweat. 

You might not have any idea what Silva is saying on Jupiter but you don’t really need to.  The overarching chilled out vibe and stirring musical passages convey all the messaging you need.  Jupiter is as beautiful as the galaxy itself and as magnificent and majestic as the planet that it’s named after.  Not world music by any stretch of the imagination Silva had created a chilled global downtempo work of awesomeness. 

Lakou Mizik Bring The Beauty of Haiti Home On Wa Di Yo

Formed in the wake of the Haitian earthquake of 2010 Lakou Mizik is makde up of a diverse collection of musicians coming together to make music together.  Various religious, social and economic strata are represented within the group and each have united to tell stories and share their struggles.  The resulting musical tales are encapsulated on Wa Di Yo.  Spanning generations Lakou Mizik create Afro Caribbean call and response harmonies that are as celebratory as they are introspective.

Wa Di Yo is a gorgeously tropical record that’s in a constant state of motion.  Its rhythms and grooves have a pop sensibility about them while being introspective and thoughtful.  The record’s uncomplicated feel and multipart harmonies are simply awesome and give the album a sense of nimbleness throughout.  Steeped in Haitian and Creole culture and influenced by generations of music the record is an intriguing picture of Haitian culture today.    This is a country that has been through one of the worst natural disasters of the last twenty years and somehow, some way the people have a spirit of resiliency about them.  This spirt pulsates through Wa Di Yo and guides many of the songs. 

Lakou Mizik is a band that has seen more than its fair share of dark days but instead of dwelling on them they’ve chosen to move forward.  Wa Di Yo is the sound of healing and inspiration and it’s simply fantastic stuff.   Although it sounds world away, Wa Di Yo brings the spirit and culture of Haiti straight to your heart.  It’s a great record that’s brimming with positivity and hope and there’s nothing the matter with that!

Zona's Quest For Peace, Love and Understanding

I have to admit, I didn’t give Zona’s Peace, Love and Understanding any chance of being good.  I mean look at the cover.  It’s not good; it just isn’t.  Then I put the disc in and holy frehole I was taken aback at what I was hearing.  Peace, Love and Understanding is a mind numbing house record that harks back to all those classic late 90’s records that made mega-clubs temples to 4/4 time. 

Peace, Love and Understanding is packed with 12 tracks of sensual disco influenced vocal house that are so damn sexy and groove laden you’ll be spilling champagne all over the dance floor.  What’s truly different about this record is Zona’s use of live instrumentation in addition to the soulful vocals of Angela McGary, Chezere Brathwaite, Jackie Wilson, Wade Chandler, Chellena Black and Valarie Moise.  Brimming with positivity and packed with dancefloor friendly grooves this record is about as close a musical religious experience as you are likely to have.  Listening to Peace, Love and Understanding reminded me how much I miss this traditional taken on house music.

Zona has created a euphoric, upbeat, glittery, sexy house record with Peace, Love and Understanding. It might be a cliché saying but nothing about this record is cliché except for how wrong I was to judge it by its cover.   In a world littered by dirty and aggressive dance music, Zona reminds us how sensual and positive the genre can be when it’s at its best.  Peace, Love and Understanding is an understated and subdued classic that needs to be in your life.          

The High Violets Heroes & Halos

Five albums in and The High Violets kind of have the whole post-gazing dream pop thing down pat.  They know their way around ethereality and could sculpt a noise pop song in their sleep.  They know how to take their influences and make them their own.  These guys are good and their latest album Heroes and Halos does anything but disappoint.

While they often get compared to Slowdive, I really think of The High Violets as Saint Etienne lost in a shoegazing haze.  Vocalist Kaitlyn at times sounds so much like Sarah from Etienne you’d swear she was trapped in Foxbase Alpha.   This isn’t a bad thing in any way, shape or form and in fact, it’s all a bit endearing if you ask me.  While vocally the album has a slightly twee edge about it musically, Heroes & Halos is a blissed out beautiful trip through sheets of shimmering guitar noise.  The songs are wispy, willowy and as light as breeze.  It’s all really rather gorgeous stuff and the band create an aural aesthetic that as heavenly as the album’s name implies.   There’s so little to fault here because The High Violets know how to do this with their eyes closed and they don’t it really, really well. 

Heroes & Halos is the latest album in The High Violets career that exceeds expectations.  In a world littered with post-gazing pop bands The High Violets have staked their claim as leaders of the new school and with Heroes & Halos it’s easy to see why; dreampop has never sounded so heavenly as it does here.  Perfection personified.

Dear Dark Head Create Strange Weather

DearDarkHead’s Mini LP Strange Weather is a six song ethereal journey into the post-shoegazing landscape.    This instrumental record is utterly gorgeous and features some of the best guitar work I’ve heard on an instrumental work in a really long time.  And while the musicianship on this record is top notch or higher, it’s one of the few atmospheric albums that I’ve heard that would benefit immensely from vocals.

If you ever wondered what the Stone Roses would sound like without Ian Brown, Strange Weather answers that question.   It’s a crisp record that jangles, jumps, jams and shimmers in the sunlight.  The songs are memorable, danceable, and ready for a vocalist to take them into the stratosphere.  Not really post rock, not really ambient, not really anything related to anything similar DDH seems to be a band that simply couldn’t find a vocalist.  That being said, if they ever were to find one suited to their tastes DearDarkHead could be a band with an arsenal of killer singles and world domination at their feet.  Until then bliss out to Strange Weather and enjoy its post-shoegazing atmospherics.   

Great Lakes' Wild Vision

To tweak a rather famous lyric, “It’s been a long time since I’ve twanged and rolled.”  Six years to be precise.  It’s hard to believe but it’s been that long between Great Lakes records so the fact that I’m staring at Wild Vision is deeply thrilling.  And what a thrilling record it really is.

Now based in Brooklyn, Great Lakes haven’t changed much since their move from Athens, GA over a decade ago.  Sure they’re in the big city but their heart and soul is as rustic as ever and Wild Vision is an expansive dusty record that has more in common with mid-western prairies than the Van Wyck.

Great Lakes collectively have come up with another fantastic record of rock and roll run through the country roads and backwoods of America.  There’s enough heartbreak, bluesy guitar riffs, twangy pedal steel sounds, multipart vocals and brilliance to give you goosebumps.   The record slowly trots along barely changing the pace throughout and it’s rarely, if ever, in an upbeat mood.  In fact, there’s a constant sense of emotional despair throughout but it works for the band because the music they create is so suited to this atmospheric environment.  If Nick Cave were to don a cowboy hat and ride off into the sunset with The Bad Seeds in tow Wild Vision is the sort of record they’d come up with.

Wild Vision is not the feel good hit of 2016 .  It is, however, a temperamental and emotive record that feels like it could end it tears at any point.  Great Lakes have a produced a dour and dark record of countrified rock and roll that’s perfect for winter.  Its downtrodden sense of disappointment along with the pastoral feel of the record makes for great songs and even better listening.  I really enjoyed this album and after being away for so long it’s nice to know that Great Lakes can still create material like Wild Vision.  

Aziza Brahim's Timely Abbar el Hamada

Raised in a Saharawi refugee camp in Algeria and living in exile for more than two decades Aziza Brahim’s album Abbar el Hamada is an album that’s about resilience and perseverance as much as it is a musical statement.  And what a record it is.  Abbar el Hamada is a beautiful African influenced Arab spiced record that embraces atmospheric musical passages and jazzy melodies with open arms.  This record is a diverse effort that reflects the changing face of the world today. 

Exploring the tumultuous and timely stories of the migrant and immigrant experience this record seems to have arrived at just the right time.  Abbar el Hamada is a reflective and thoughtful effort that paints a picture through music and compassionate songwriting.  While Aziza might be from Algeria and exiled in Spain, this record would seemingly fit any of the current migrant crises we see daily on the news and makes a statement about the humanity of it all without making a much of an effort.

Even without the lyrics much of Abbar el Hamada is beautiful and emotionally poignant.  The reflective and often mellow interplay between musicians creates a serene mood and the songs are light, airy, and sound as if the old world was caught mixing with the new world.  I really enjoyed the songs on Abbar el Hamada despite not understanding anything Aziza was singing.  The record is the sort of thing you’d expect Rick Steeves to be listening to as he and his crew drove across the continent.

Emotional, stunning, and provocative Aziza Brahim’s Abbar el Hamada is an impactful effort on many levels. It’s impressively put together, played and thoroughly enjoyable.  It’s hard to believe a musician with such talent is exiled and forced to live so far from home but perhaps it’s that distance that drives Brahim and makes his songs as amazing as they are.  A worthy and passionate effort all the way around Abbar el Hamada is well worth a listen.

Try The Pie Takes A Rest

Try the Pie is the project of one Bean Tupou who creates wilting twee acoustic pop that sounds as if Kim Deal was giving you a long aural hug.  Her latest album Rest is a sweet and tender little record that sounds so twee and fragile that it might just crumble apart while being listened to.  With barely any production or barely any sheen Rest breaks your heart with just the vocals of Bean who whimpers and whispers across the record.

There's nothing complicated about Rest but there doesn't need to be because Try The Pie still comes up with delicious song concoctions that melt your emotions into a giant puddle of teary goo.  Rest is so heartfelt and so genuine you can't help but love this record.  I can't stand acoustic music but Bean's voice is just so dainty and adorable my heart melts every time she sings.  Rest is an enjoyable listen of intimate and fragile indie folk.  It's not the best sounding or produced but Try The Pie has some of the most delicately beautiful tunes to come across my ears in a while.  It's not an upbeat or energetic release but it's a perfect aural valentine and it's filled with a genuine sense of love.  And that, that's pretty cool

Antlered Aunt Lord is Ostensibly Formerly Stunted

The oddly named Antlered Aunt Lord is as shambolic and weird as their name might imply.  Led by the one and only member, Jesse Stinnard, AAL is a crazy chaotic mess of a solo project.    Stinnard is a hap hazard artist who cranks out songs as if doing so was as involuntary as breathing.  I'm not sure if he's really all that good overall but he occasionally hits a sweet spot and comes up with something that perks your ears up. 

Stinnard's solo effort, Ostensibly Formerly Stunted, is as loosely put together as his musical ideas.  Consisting of 19 tracks much of this record comes from a backlog of songs AAL had laying around and it kind of sounds like it.  Ostensibly Formerly Stunted runs together as if it were his stream of consciousness let loose in a recording studio.  As a result the album is truly all over the place musically and covers more genres of indie than I could count.  Guitars are wrangled, drums broken, voices strained and through it all Ostensibly Formerly Stunted is as lo-fi as lo-fi can be.  I'm not sure if my tolerance level for all this messiness is high enough for repeated listens, but there are some special moments on this slab.   For example, the second Stinnard finds a keyboard magical things happen songs worth hearing ooze out of the record. 

Ostensibly Formerly Stunted isn't necessarily a bad record from a songwriting standpoint (Stinnard has some great ideas) it just pivots from production qualities faster than sub genres.  And while the production is lacking AAL has some tunes worthy of listening to and given $10 and a DAT recorder they might make for a nice sounding record.  Unfortunately, this entire record is so all over the place that it tested my sanity a bit too much.  If you like crazy lo-fi/no-fi pop off of Adderall you'll absolutely flip a wig for this but if you enjoy hearing things in a somewhat structured manner...you'll lose your mind.  Antlered Aunt Lord's Ostensibly Formerly Stunted sounds like a demo committed to vinyl and I'm not sure that's a good thing.  

Animal Daydream Love Citrus

Animal Daydream's Citrus 7” is a blast of post 60's jangle that has so much Byrdsian goodness running throughout it you'd swear Roger McGuinn was in the band.  The four songs on this single are fantastic melodic gems that are sweeter than grapefruit with sugar on top.  Seriously, this is a great little record that highlights the never ending awesomeness that Animal Daydream constantly release.  Jangly guitars with psychedelic flourishes pair nicely with the melodious melodies here and the result is a single of summer pop perfection for the dead of winter.

The record is bookended by the two best songs, “Citrus,” and “In My Room.”  The two tracks are jangly and slightly psychedelic tunes that have a brilliant pop sensibility about them.  They really are pop hits, just fifty years late to the party.  There's nothing to fault on Citrus except to say that it's only four songs! Enjoyable on either side Citrus is a tangy treat of indie pop run through the 60's with orange tinted glasses (get it?).

Mark Van Hoen Has Nightvision

Mark Van Hoen’s album Nightvision is so aptly titled that it’s almost fair to judge this book by its cover.  Nightvision consists of ten tracks from a dark sunless future world where Blade Runner is come and gone and the apocalypse happened generations before.  Mark Van Hoen creates a bleak, minimalistic landscape of sounds that haunt your brain and let your imagination run wild.  It’s a post-Eno ambient masterpiece of synth goodness that expands beyond the universe into the great beyond.

With an army of synthesized sounds, ghost like murmurings, and a sound palette that is well beyond your imagination, Mark Van Hoen creates his soundscapes.  The songs Van Hoen has composed on Nightvision are post-apocalyptic electronic drones that loop and twist into infinity.  This is the sort of record where one song seamlessly bleeds into the next with barely any notice and as a result much of NIghtvision plays out as one 49 minute long dream.

Nightvision is an enjoyable listen on headphones and if listened to in a dark room could potentially cause insanity.  Its rich textures and sounds play havoc with your ears as your mind runs rampant in Mark Van Hoen’s soundscape; and it’s amazing.  If you like post rock, drone, ambient or just getting lost in a different world you can’t do much better than Nightvision!